1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a yarn producing apparatus for producing carbon nanotube yarn.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known example of a yarn producing apparatus includes a pair of rollers for aggregating carbon nanotube fibers pulled out from a carbon nanotube forming substrate, and twisting means for twisting the carbon nanotube fibers aggregated by the pair of rollers (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-116632).
In the yarn producing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-116632, the carbon nanotube fibers pulled out from the carbon nanotube-forming substrate are sandwiched and aggregated by a pair of rollers. Fibers of carbon nanotubes have the property of easily aggregating and retain their shape once aggregated. For this reason, with the conventional yarn producing apparatus, the carbon nanotube fibers passed through a pair of rollers are aggregated in the form of a strip (flat shape), and it is difficult to obtain carbon nanotube yarn of a desired shape.